The invention relates to a roll grinder and specifically to a roll grinder which has an improved foundation which insulates the roll grinder from external vibrations.
A conventional roll grinder for which the present invention may be used is disclosed in U.S. Pat Nos. 3,391,497; 4,807,400; and 4,811,524, for example.
Rolls used for producing steel, aluminum, paper, and in other related industries require that the surface of the roll be free from imperfections. Through normal use, the surfaces of the rolls develop imperfections. The roll surfaces are reconditioned by being ground in a roll grinder. Surface imperfections in the rolls may be caused by vibrations imposed upon the grinding machinery by external forces. Some roll grinders are immune to this problem because they are installed in an environment that is essentially free of external vibration. However, most roll grinder installations are disposed near a rolling mill for which the rolls being ground are used, or are near other vibration generating systems, other factory or machinery installations, a railroad track, a roadway, etc. Therefore, there is a need for isolating roll grinders from induced vibrations.
One prior art technique for vibration isolating a roll grinder is now described. A conventional roll grinder has several component parts. Each is on a respective separate bed. The parts include a front bed on which the roll to be ground is supported, a rear bed that supports a carriage for the grinding wheel head and a caliper bed, possibly on the opposite side of the front bed from the carriage bed, on which a roll sensing caliper is supported. Each bed is supported through its own respective isolation supports or rigid supports on a common block. As each component is on its own supports and as the components are of different masses, they can vibrate relative to each other on the common block. To avoid or at least minimize this vibration, a single large concrete block is used as the common block, with a top side shaped and profiled to the machine footprint of the beds and the isolation supports of each of the components. The block is quite large and tall, e.g., 2-3 meters in height. The block is raised and separated from the surrounding building and the ground beneath it by an isolator system for the block comprised of either polymer, rubber, springs, or the like. The size of and supports for the block make it an inertia block which damps vibration of the block and damps relative vibrations of the components and their respective beds. The block has sufficient stiffness to support the accuracy of the grinding process and has sufficient mass to render the appropriate natural frequencies occurring in the particular application. However, because the block 12 typically may be 2-3 meters in height, it provides a very large, costly, and cumbersome foundation. It is installed in and often disposed below the floor level of a shop floor so that the height level of the roll grinder components will be accessible at floor level. This avoids the possibility of repositioning the grinder, except for great effort and expense.